fbpx
Home Blog Page 1506

Word + Quiz: marquee

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Word + Quiz: marquee

noun: a large and often sumptuous tent

noun: permanent canopy over an entrance of an entertainment venue or hotel

adjective: having or being associated with fame, such as a widely-known person whose name appears on a marquee

_________

The word marquee has appeared in 271 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 20 in “The Lakers, the Clippers and a Rare Fight for L.A. Basketball Primacy” by Michael Powell:

The Clippers’ biggest stars, Leonard and Paul George, possess a home-born advantage, as the men came of age on the exurban jack-rabbit desert fringes to which so many working-class Los Angeles-area families have been consigned by the economics of a city as grossly expensive as New York.

But street cred buys only so much love. The Clippers opened their home schedule against the Lakers this season, and when Leonard — the team’s marquee signing, a champion fresh off a title last year with Toronto — took the microphone to say a few words, the Lakers fans who had jammed the arena showered him with boos.

Not long afterward, Leonard attended an L.A. Rams football game and his smiling face appeared on the scoreboard, and again: Boooooooooo.

_________

Would You Allow an Ex-Prisoner to Live With You?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Would You Allow an Ex-Prisoner to Live With You?

In “Would You Open Your Home to an Ex-Prisoner?” Michaela Haas writes:

In the beginning, Sabina Crocette struggled with the best way to introduce London DeLora Croudy to her family and friends. “Should I introduce her as my roommate? My renter? A new family member?” Ms. Crocette was also questioning how much to get involved in her guest’s life: “I wanted to embrace her but not smother her.”

That is because their relationship has no precedent.

Ms. Crocette, 52, took in Ms. Croudy, 32, just before Christmas last year through the Homecoming Project, an effort by the nonprofit Impact Justice in Alameda County, Calif. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, a public policy think tank, people who have been released from prison are 10 times more likely than the general public to become homeless. Few can afford astronomical rents in California’s Bay Area, and the stigma against the formerly incarcerated is persistent. But when ex-prisoners end up homeless, the recidivism rates increase.

“We looked at the success of Airbnb and the sharing economy, and saw a model that could be adapted to meet this need,” Terah Lawyer, the program manager, said. “Some are offering shared housing for college students or refugees. We are the first to offer it for the re-entry population.”

“This is a very sensitive ask,” she continued, “but we found it appeals to people who have strong social values and are called to helping that population.”

Since it began in August 2018, the Homecoming Project has matched 15 newly released prisoners with hosts. “We prioritize people who are homeless and who have been in jail for more than 10 years,” Ms. Lawyer said. Perhaps surprisingly, these prisoners are unlikely to reoffend. So far, all the participants and alumni have steady jobs or are pursuing degrees, Ms. Lawyer said. None is on the streets or jobless. Nobody has gotten in any trouble with the law. The Homecoming Project would be prepared to hold a conflict resolution session “to break through communication barriers if there are any,” Ms. Lawyer said, but so far there haven’t been.

The author describes how Ms. Crocette shared her intention to open her home to an ex-felon to a skeptical daughter:

… when Ms. Crocette floated the idea of Ms. Croudy moving in, her daughter, then 21, had a swift response: “No way! Haven’t you learned anything?” Ms. Crocette laughed. “I said to her, ‘Why don’t you meet London before you say no? I believe you’ll be buddies in no time.’ And this is exactly what happened.”

The three women regularly cooked together, shared meals and got to know one another. “You don’t have to ask my permission to go out,” Ms. Crocette had to remind Ms. Croudy in the beginning.

The Homecoming Project screens hosts and their potential house guests extensively and pays $775 per month in rent for six months. The program is about much more than just a place to sleep. “Many participants have to learn to navigate the community,” Ms. Lawyer said. “How do you use an iPhone? How do you cook for yourself?” Some have more serious issues. “People who have committed crimes often have trauma,” Ms. Lawyer said. “It is important for them to be part of a healthy family.”

So that the hosts are not left on their own to deal with such complex issues, each client is connected to an innovative LifeLong Medical Care clinic in Berkeley, where they get health care and can request counseling. Hosts and guests regularly take workshops on topics ranging from practical help to self-care. “They need to be educated about the challenges,” Ms. Lawyer said. “For instance, one host didn’t understand why privacy was such a big issue for his participant. Once he understood the setting in institutions where you even use the bathroom in front of other people, it resolved the confusion.” The Homecoming Project’s community navigators stop by as often as needed to help.

“It’s safer than if I took in a renter from Craigslist,” Ms. Crocette said.

The article continues:

The Homecoming Project has a waiting list of more than 100 ex-prisoners, but only 20 hosts. Ms. Lawyer said they are ready to expand — but a lack of money stands in the way.

Initial funding came from a private donor, but the group also received grants, including one from Stanford University, and a contract with the state of California. Ms. Lawyer hopes to train other organizations around the country to bring the model to their own communities. To give some perspective on the need, 600,000 people are released from prison every year in the United States

Ms. Lawyer knows the issues firsthand. She spent 15 years in prison for aiding and abetting a murder. Behind bars, she got degrees in business management and drug counseling. “When I got out two years ago, I ended up in a transitional home that was run almost like a prison,” she said. “I was grateful I had a place to sleep, but I was not allowed to work for the first three months though I had a job lined up, and I had to take a drug rehabilitation program though I had never touched drugs and am an addiction counselor. I could have run these courses!”

Ms. Croudy said that she, too, hated her halfway house, which was run by a for-profit company that also manages prisons and immigrant detention centers. “I was only allowed to leave one day a week. They simply don’t treat you as an individual who is preparing to stand on her own feet.”

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Would you allow an ex-prisoner to live with you? Why or why not? What considerations would go into your decision?

  • Do you, your family or any of your friends know someone who served time in prison? If yes, do you know about any of his or her experiences and challenges in re-entering society?

  • Ms. Crocette says, “It’s safer than if I took in a renter from Craigslist.” What do you think of her decision to open her home to an ex-felon? Do you find her reasons persuasive?

  • Do you believe that people who have committed a crime deserve a second chance? Why or why not? What responsibility, if any, do we have to help others get back on their feet?

  • Ms. Croudy says that for former prisoners, “starting over is a struggle, a physical and emotional battle.” Many are barred from housing, jobs, student loans and voting. How do you think society can help people who have committed crimes and served time for them? Examples might include passing legislation to “ban the box,” which aims to remove the check box on job applications that asks if candidates have a criminal record; creating re-entry programs to help formerly incarcerated people pursue college degrees; or providing mentorship and counseling programs for prisoners upon their release

  • The Homecoming Project is only in Oakland. Should all cities adopt this novel approach?

Lesson of the Day: ‘When Can We Go to School?’ Nearly 300 Million Children Are Missing Class.

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Lesson of the Day: ‘When Can We Go to School?’ Nearly 300 Million Children Are Missing Class.

Find all our Lessons of the Day here.

Featured Article: “When Can We Go to School?” Nearly 300 Million Children Are Missing Class, by Vivian Wang and Makiko Inoue

Since January, we have written lessons for students about the coronavirus outbreak and early efforts to contain it. We published a special guest-authored math lesson to better understand the numbers behind the coronavirus. And, last week, we asked students how concerned they were about the coronavirus and what precautions, if any, have they, their families and their schools taken?

We received over 450 comments from students sharing what their schools and communities were doing to prepare for the coronavirus. Some students said they were currently not in school because of the coronavirus. In this lesson, you will hear the stories of families who are navigating work and school closures. Then, you will analyze the problems and solutions presented in the article or create a one-pager visual response to the article.

Part I: Class Discussion

How concerned are you about the coronavirus? Is it something that you talk about at school, with your parents or with friends? Has the coronavirus affected your school life in any way? Have you been given reminders about washing your hands and covering your sneezes and coughs? Do you know if your school has a plan in place if it has to close?

Then respond to these two questions:

  • What impact do you imagine the spread of the virus has had on individuals and communities?

  • In your experience, what role has fear played in the coronavirus outbreak?

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. What examples from the article support this United Nations statement: “The global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled”?

2. How have closed schools tried to continue educating students? What are some of the limitations and challenges of online schooling at a time of crisis?

3. In what ways has the coronavirus outbreak put an extra burden on women?

4. How do the stories of two mothers, Anastasia Moschos, an insurance broker, and Cristina Tagliabue, a communications entrepreneur, illustrate how class and family structure affect responses to the coronavirus outbreak?

5. How have school closures in Japan and Hong Kong affected farmers, nannies and other workers? What have governments done, if anything, to respond?

6. Three of the parents that the article profiles are: Gao Mengxian, a security guard and mother in Hong Kong; Julia Bossard, a 39-year-old mother in France; and Lee Seong-yeon, a health information manager and mother in South Korea. Choose one of these parents and answer the following questions:

  • How has this parent and his or her family been affected by the coronavirus outbreak? How has it changed their lives?

  • What support, if any, have they received?

Option I: Problems and Solutions

The article presents multiple problems that different communities are facing during the coronavirus outbreak. Cities and countries are offering some solutions to workers and families, but more resources are needed.

Read back through the article and list the problems and solutions that are presented in the different countries. Then, offer solutions that you think might better support individuals and families affected by the outbreak.

You can use this Problem-Solution Organizer worksheet to help you. If you have more time, you can write a short essay exploring the problems, current solutions and your suggestions.

Option II: One-Pager

What are your main takeaways from the article? What do you think is important for someone else to understand? Look back through the article and choose:

You can organize your selections on this One-Pager worksheet. If you have more time, design a visually compelling one-pager and explain the importance of the article.

Latest Takeaways from Craig Weiss

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Latest Takeaways from Craig Weiss

It has been a wild week from the acquisition of Saba by Cornerstone to the ability to compare systems in detail on FindAnLMS, to the Coronavirus and the usage of Microsoft Teams as part of the L&D experience.

A lot of readers and folks on various social media have asked about my perspective on a variety of areas, so without further adieu

The Virus and Trade Shows in our Industry

With more and more corporate entities telling their employees not to come into the office and/or do not do any business related travel, I am calling on Learning Solutions and ATD to cancel their trade shows for 2020.   Even if they stay the course, you can clearly expect lower turnouts, and the potential that someone could catch the virus at the show via another attendee, who isn’t aware they have the virus.

Vendors who have a booth would need to have disinfectant, hand sanitizers and wipes with them at all time, and rub down anyplace that someone put their hand on, on a regular basis, and not say once a day.   It is quite common for folks to do handshakes, hugs at the show, both of which would have to be stopped.  Then you have the “how do I get there” for the show, with airlines scaling back flights. 

Let’s do lunch.  Let’s say you have your brown bag lunch from the show.  WidgetWally grabs one bag, changes his mind, and grabs another.  Unbeknownst to anyone, including WW, he has the virus.  Now, attendee X grabs the first bag, that WW initially grabbed, and whalla, virus expansion. 

I’d recommend that Learning Solutions which is scheduled for the end of March-early April to announce their cancellation for 2020 or a postponement to the Fall.    ATD2020, to cancel their show in Denver or postpone to the fall.  I would hope they would think about their attendees more than the revenue. 

The Virus and Impact to Online Learning

If I was in EdTech I’d be thrilled, because universities and schools are telling their students to go online and take courses.  There will be more universities shutting down for a month or two, from a student standpoint and instead pressing them to go online.

On the corporate side it becomes a bit dicey.  The virus is already starting to create a financial crisis, and likely will lead to a recession not just in the states, which is showing already some financial strain in certain markets, but globally as well.

For anyone who is in L&D, HR and Marketing, the typical three that get cut when there is a financial recession, budgets will get tooled back as well.  If you are in the travel industry, specifically airlines and cruise lines and were looking at buying a learning system, those plans may have to be on hold.

Consumer goods are to follow, after all, if consumers are not going out and buying (and cutting interest rates to zero, wouldn’t be a factor to someone who is debating about going to the theater), then a ripple effect occurs. 

In past recessions, the e-learning market took a hit. Especially on the vendor side, whereas pricing for systems, dropped in cost.  Seat pricing (price per seat, per user, per year),  dropped, as did setup fees and other fees.  Many vendors stopped charging for APIs, per seat costs were in the low to mid 20’s for 1,000 learners, with some vendors going lower.

Prior to the recession, the last one specifically, vendors were charging in the low 30’s for price per seat/user/per year. (i.e. $32 per user for the year).  Today?  Pricing continues on upward pace, with it being common to see $32-$36 per user/per year at 1,000 and even 1500 user base.   

APIs are often charged at 1,000 per API, with some vendors going 2K per API.  If budgets are scaled back, then pricing will reflect that. 

Microsoft Teams and Online Learning

The latest rage in the learning space is the heavy usage of Microsoft Teams as a key component for employees training/learning.   It reminds me of the days of the Community of Practice, with obviously a refresh of a better design and additional capabilities.

In order for Microsoft Teams to be leveraged as a component or stronger part of your learning, you should look for either of these two options

  • Buying a CDS – Content Delivery System which will push content from the system (the CDS) into Microsoft Teams.  The end-user never goes into the CDS, everything – content and more is pushed into Microsoft Teams via an API. Data is captured on the admin side of the CDS.  It should be noted that a CDS will never have a strong level of metrics, so if this is something you must have, THEN go App route with a learning system (dependent on vendor and their metrics)
  • Going thru a learning system’s Microsoft Teams app, which is either in the Microsoft Teams app store (although most are not), or downloading it from the learning system vendor’s site.  Everything again, content wise, including quizzes, instructor capabilities (if the app has that) is pushed into Microsoft Teams.  And again, the end-user, manager, etc., never has to go into the learning system.  The data is captured on the back-end of the learning system. 

If you decide to do neither, then recognize that the ability to share files, and other pieces of content, web cam each other, text and do more is nothing more than a COP of yesteryear which did the exact same thing, even some had a webinar capability via a web conferencing tool.  Sharing is just one part of learning, and should not be the only thing that drives learning.

For fans of upskilling, Microsoft Teams and even Slack should not be the solutions you see as the answer to skills acquisition or on-going development without using a CDS or a learning system app or API for that matter that goes within the system.

Nor is either of these applications, Microsoft Teams or Slack, an LXP. 

Upskilling is a trend that is on fire, but what about reskilling?

Reskilling to me is the bigger challenge for companies, and even associations (member and trade) in the coming years.  Think of how many employees who are in industries where automation is either taking over or impacting at a higher level than in the past, and will need to be re-trained with new skills.

What about folks who will lose their jobs and will need to be re-trained with skills that will need to be successful at their new company? 

And then we have folks whose industry, i.e. mining is being scaled back, these individuals will need to be retrained, and thus re-skilled.

Who pays for it?  Should it be the states, government at the federal level or the companies themselves?  If the government cuts the budget for a facility to provide re-skilling, then again, who is willing to take charge and help these folks? 

As a whole, countries are awful about re-skilling their workforce. The U.S. for example, is especially bad. The 50’s-mid 70’s are not coming back, and thus, industries that played strong in fossil fuels and alike, are being phased out.  These folks, need to be reskilled, and online learning is a great way to go about it.   But they need a place to go to do so, or an organization to provide technology for them to have at home.

Until the corporate space recognizes the reskilling aspect as a worthy undertaking, then it fall onto the government to resolve it, and we all know how that will go.

Cornerstone Acquires Saba

I viewed the buy as more of what it told me about Saba, rather than Cornerstone.  Privately, and this is going back a decade, Saba saw themselves as a performance management solution. Yet, most folks buy two or more modules, with learning being a key one. 

Years ago, when Saba was acquired by a PE, I thought that the PE would break up Saba and keep the learning and performance modules.   Well, that didn’t happen.

A year ago, Saba went buying.  They picked up Lumesse which also had an LXP as well.  There were factors for the buy, but one of which was EMEA, where Saba was poor, and Lumesse was not.   Saba also wanted to improve their learning.   Plus they recognized the need for an LXP, and whalla, now they had one.

Fast Forward to recent.  

From a NexGen standpoint, Saba really was further ahead that many vendors, their learning side of the house had vastly improved and the LXP (viewable on Findanlms.com’s FindAnLMS) was a nice solution.

But Saba had done poorly with marketing the LXP, really poorly to be frank, and the days of seeing Saba at trade show in the e-learning space has been quite sparse compared to years’ before.

What I see

  • This is by far a customer buy, i.e. acquiring the customers from Saba
  • As Cornerstone told me, they are not requiring customers of Saba to move onto their platform, but as noted earlier, I suspect they ideally would like Saba customers to voluntarily move over.
  • Add pieces of Saba NexGen feature sets that Cornerstone is missing,  combining systems doesn’t make any sense, first off, it would take quite a bit of time to combine X and Y, and I just can’t see that.  What I could see is Cornerstone leveraging some feature sets that they do not have with what Saba has.
  • Continue to push that Cornerstone is an HCM, that is clear to me here with this buy, as if, it wasn’t clear beforehand.  Learning is still the key driver here for Cornerstone, but Saba has some components that could be renamed under the Cornerstone brand.
  • This reaks of large shareholders wanting Cornerstone to acquire a competitor.  Honestly, buying SumTotal would make more sense, but nevertheless, it is Saba.

Will Saba remain a separate product under the Cornerstone name,  I’m sitting on the fence on that one.  Short term sure, long-term, not seeing it. 

Acquisitions in General 2020

You can expect more buys in 2020.  The Access Group, is already acquired another vendor – HR (not yet public), and I wouldn’t be surprised if they buy someone else before the end of 2020.

There are already a few systems in the learning space that are “privately” on the market, and even a few e-learning tools. 

From a financial standpoint, the market is red hot in terms of acquisitions with PEs and others providing the capital for vendors to buy others.  The problem though is that sometimes the buys make very little sense from a technology standpoint, and are often about the customers, leaving the original system to be nothing more than a shell of its former self, and a skeleton crew maintaining it. 

Drop Talent Management once and for all

I never liked the term talent management.  It sounded like you worked in the entertainment industry as an agent.  It had this weird punch as some better than thou spin, okay maybe that is just my sense.

Let’s replace it with a series of words that make more sense,  Workforce Development.  Really, that is what performance mgt/talent mgt is isn’t?  If you are a system that is the TM focus with learning secondary, than Workforce Development seems to be what you are trying to accomplish.  

An HCM could be renamed, Workforce Management, and that is fair.  Under a WM would be recruiting, compensation, etc.

Under the learning systems umbrella it would be LMS, LXP, Digital Learning Platform, Skills Management Platform or Skills Development platform, learning platform, Workforce Development system and a Content Delivery System.  Within a learning platform you have the micro-learning platforms too.  A system that is 100% coaching, would slide as a coaching platform, under the learning platform moniker.

Early Rankings for 2020-21

Yes, the 2020 have rolled out, but 2021 is just around the corner, okay 9 months from now, but why wait months to go by without knowing what I am seeing?

It is early, but the best Totara partner and Moodle partner is eThink (can be found on FindAnLMS).  I have them #1 in the Totara and Moodle category.

Customer Training continues to be led by Thought Industries, with Skilljar, and Absorb LMS rounding out the top three (all are on FindAnLMS, btw)

New vendor to pay attention to (A new category in 2021) – I have several on my list, including thinqi. 

In the association market,  D2L (also on FindAnLMS) continues to lead the pack, but others including Thinking Cap are worth consideration.  Personally, I’ve never been a fan of someone buying an association management platform that comes with a learning component.  Why?  Because their main focus isn’t learning.  

That is like buying a talent management system that has training as a component.   It is there, because it has to be, not because the vendor is investing heavy R&D into it.

Compare Systems on FindAnLMS

I hear from folks all the time, asking me how I compare Degreed to EdCast to Docebo. Well, with my platformFindAnLMS, you can now compare all those vendors and more (up to four at any given time) and see for yourself.   Curious to know the similarities and differences between Cornerstone and SumTotal?  Say no more, because on FindAnLMS now you can. 

Plus you can see additional information, including price ranges, user base (minimum), implementation and details too.   Best of all it is 100% Free.

Recent additions to FindAnLMS include GO1, eThink, Ottolearn, SmarterU,  Steam LXP, Tovuti LMS, Global IT LMS and TOPYX.

48 of my Top 50 Learning Systems can be found on FindAnLMS.   Thus, if you want to see and compare CrossKnowledge (#1 in the top 50) against Fuse, now you can.  Or if you are curious on why some many folks were interested in Area9, with FindAnLMS, you will be able to see for yourselves.

Bottom Line

These are just some of my quick thoughts for the early month of March. A few are trends, others observations.

And all of them,

a Takeaway for

you.

E-Learning 24/7

 

 

 

 

 

Free Women’s Day Printable

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Free Women’s Day Printable

Free Women's Day Printable post cover

On March 8th, we are celebrating International Women’s Day. As a woman myself, I like to take a moment that day to think of all you lovely gals out there. I hope that at least on that exceptional day, you will find time to pamper yourself and praise how amazing you are (because we all are!). To make this day even better, I have for you free women’s day printable.

I wanted it to be something more than just a seasonal decoration. Because of that, these posters feature a twist around a famous song title which most of you probably know:

I always find it really entertaining to watch how fashion and style changed when I watch such old hits!

The poster, however, isn’t just about having fun. It raises issues of women’s rights. Even thou I believe that women’s voice is now stronger then ever, there are still parts of the world where women have no rights at all. We should remember about it and fight for equality.

Poster for a women's day avaiable as free printable at designerblogs.com

For Personal Use Only.

If you are looking for more printables, make sure to check our free printables library

We would appreciate if you can share this printable. It is really easy! Just click on the buttons below. It is completely free for you but helps us grow and produce even more content.

Share and help us grow. Thanks!

If you wonder what fonts I used to create this free women’s day printable, here is the full list. The main quote was written using Argon and the handwritten part was added using Amithen.

What do you think about our Women’s Day printable?

Let us know in the comments below! If you will decide to print it, make sure to share photos of your decorated room with us via Instagram or Twitter.

P.S This post includes affiliate links. By clicking them you are supporting us. Thanks!

Teenagers in The Times: February 2020

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Teenagers in The Times: February 2020

Here is the February 2020 edition of Teenagers in The Times, a roundup of the news and feature stories about young people that have recently appeared across sections of NYTimes.com. We publish a new edition on the first Thursday of each month.

For ideas about how to use Teenagers in The Times with your students, please see our lesson plan and special activity sheet, both of which can be used with this or any other edition.

_________

Education

The Political Pundits of TikTok

Teenagers are campaigning, debating, running fact checks and forming party-based coalitions (hype houses). One of them called it “cable news for young people.”

Student Contest Winners: Teenagers Look at the News

We selected seven of our favorites from among the 200-plus entries in this year’s student letter-writing competition.

New Mexico Sues Google Over Children’s Privacy Violations

The lawsuit says that Google, the top tech brand in public schools, used its educational products to spy on students.

2 Americans, 19 and 20, Go on Trial Over Killing of Italian Police Officer

With defense lawyers and prosecutors giving widely differing accounts of the night in question, a jury will weigh the evidence over the killing of a paramilitary officer in Rome by a pair of teenagers.

Supreme Court Rules for U.S. Agent Who Shot Mexican Teenager

In one of two 5-to-4 decisions Tuesday, the court said Congress had not authorized lawsuits over cross-border shootings. The justices also ruled against a death row inmate seeking resentencing.

_________

Science, Health, Technology and Sports

What Happens When You Get Famous Off One Song?

Tom Austin released a hit. Now what? We asked him — and Rebecca Black.

Nikita Pearl Waligwa, Star of ‘Queen of Katwe,’ Dies at 15

The Ugandan teenager, who debuted in the 2016 Disney film about a chess whiz, died of brain cancer, her school said.

‘Cheer’: What to Read and Listen to After Seeing This Netflix Hit

The docu-series about Navarro College’s competitive cheerleading team has taken over the internet. Here’s the best of the conversation to dive into next.

Bring Back the Tomboys

“Once they were all over pop culture. When they retreated, an expanded view of what girlhood could look like was obscured, too,” writes the author of this Opinion essay.

In Hollywood, Stories About People of Color Are Still Rare. These Y.A. Fantasy Novels Pick Up the Slack.

Echo Brown’s ‘Black Girl Unlimited,’ Anna-Marie McLemore’s ‘Dark and Deepest Red’ and Adam Silvera’s ‘Infinity Son’ expand the possibilities for teenage heroes.

A Comic Coming-of-Age Novel Laced With Social Commentary

Gabriel Bump’s “Everywhere You Don’t Belong,” about a young black man from Chicago’s South Side, balances emotional heaviness and levity, Tommy Orange writes in his review.

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2020

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Celebrating International Women’s Day 2020

The theme for International Women’s Day 2020 is #EachforEqual. At FutureLearn, we’re committed to forging a gender equal world and are proud to host a platform that enables our educators to share their knowledge with learners all over the world. 

We’ve been speaking to women who mentor courses on FutureLearn to find out about their careers and what led them there. We also spoke about drive, passion and inspiration.

A big thank you to Rebecca Gowland and Meg Pickard for sharing their wisdom with us. Rebecca is the lead educator on Durham University’s course Forensic Archeology and Anthropology and Meg leads the Institute of Coding’s online program Creating Digital Content. 

Feature: Rebecca Gowland, lead educator on the online course Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology, Durham University.

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your career so far: 

I’m a professor of bioarchaeology at Durham University and I’ve been fortunate enough to work in the Department of Archaeology here since 2006. I’ve always been fascinated by the depth of information that human skeletal remains can reveal about the lives of past peoples and I feel really privileged to be able to research and teach this subject. I also work closely with forensic practitioners and human rights lawyers to apply these skills to the identification of people from modern-day forensic contexts.

Do you feel your gender has influenced any decisions you’ve taken in your career as a bioarchaeologist, or has challenged you in any way? If so, how did you overcome this?

Being a woman and a mother has certainly influenced and enriched both my research and teaching in bioarchaeology, but it’s also been an enormous challenge! Combining motherhood and a demanding job is incredibly difficult and tiring, particularly when my boys were very young. But it has also taught me to be a more resilient, empathetic and effective academic.  Plus, my kids keep me sane and stop me from becoming a complete workaholic!

Do you have any advice for women working in male dominated industries?

Men tend to be more confident in the workplace because they’re not taught to second guess themselves to the extent that women are. They are also more likely to be listened to. Don’t let this put you off – it does not mean that they are better at their jobs than you! Believe in yourself, prepare well for the tasks that come your way, be confident, calm and positive. The rest will follow!

Do you have any female inspirations?

My female students inspire me. They are full of hope, energy and intellect. It’s really invigorating!

The short course Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology is free to join, sign up here.

 

Feature: Meg Pickard, course educator on Creating Digital Content, Institute of Coding. 

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I am a digital content, community and transformation consultant, facilitator and trainer with 22+ years of industry experience.
Also passionate about neurodiversity and ethical business.

Meg, What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

I was born on one continent and have lived, worked and been educated on three others (and travelled to two more!), so I’ve always felt like a “woman of the world”. But my experience plus background in anthropology and interest in social issues really opened my eyes to the reality of women’s lives around the globe. Women are half the planet, but are still underrepresented, underpaid, undereducated and at greater risk of poverty, discrimination and more. So International Women’s Day is a celebration of all the amazing women of the world, but also a reminder that there’s still more to do.

Do you feel your gender has influenced any decisions you’ve taken in your career, or has challenged you in any way? If so, how did you overcome this?

I was lucky to enter the working world at a time when, in the field of “new media” (digital content and community when widespread domestic web access was still very new), nobody was an expert because it was all so new. So we were all slightly making it up as we went along, and everyone was a bit of an imposter. Looking back, I can see how lucky that was, because it levelled the playing field a lot, and meant I didn’t start my career already at a disadvantage because of my gender. 

Unfortunately, over more than twenty years in technology, I have witnessed and been subjected to gender discrimination and everyday sexism. My particular bugbear? Male colleagues who repeat or minutely rephrase what a woman’s just said in a meeting, and everyone around the table applauds HIM for the idea. The best way to tackle that is for others to act as allies and call it out when it happens. Don’t make it a woman’s job to defend her own relevance as well as everything else!

Do you have any advice for women working in male dominated industries?

My advice for women in male-dominated fields is: don’t allow yourself to be held back by your gender, and for goodness sake, don’t hold yourself back either. 

A research study at Hewlett Packard a few years ago revealed that men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications or desired experience, while women apply only if they meet 100% of them. It’s easy to sabotage your own career with doubt, especially when so many male colleagues don’t seem to be troubled by imposter syndrome.

Have confidence in your ability and potential, and learn to communicate with conviction. Resist the urge to dilute your communications with qualifiers like “I was just wondering, maybe we might consider…”. but instead speak with the confidence of your experience and skills; “We should…”. 

At the same time, find female mentors in your industry or a related one, and connect with other women in your workforce to boost, support and learn from each other.

Do you have any female inspirations?

I’ve been lucky to know and work with a number of amazing women over the years, and I draw a lot of inspiration and strength from them. Emily Bell, my former boss at The Guardian (now a Professor at Columbia University and Director of the Tow Centre for Digital Journalism), Heather Champ (former community manager of Flickr, now community consultant, artist and goat farmer), Rachel Coldicutt (technology expert and ethicist, most recently CEO of responsible tech think-tank doteveryone) and Kass Schmitt (technologist, entrepreneur and aspiring trans-atlantic solo sailor) among many others. I’m proud and privileged to know them. I hope that I can encourage my two daughters to be a little bit like them when they grow up.

 

Creating Digital Content is a free program created by the Institute of Coding and the University of Leeds. On the program you’ll learn:

Do you have any advice for women in the workplace, or an inspiration you’d like to share? Tell us in the comments.

Category

Word + Quiz: gully

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Word + Quiz: gully

: a deep ditch that was created by running water

_________

The word gully has appeared in 18 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 26 in “Overcrowded and More Dangerous, Mont Blanc Faces a Crisis” by Paige McClanahan:

But the dream comes with its own set of dangers. More than half a dozen routes lead to Mont Blanc’s summit, but just two — the Three Mountains Route, which starts from Chamonix, and the Normal Route, which starts from the neighboring community of Saint-Gervais — are accessible to climbers with only a moderate amount of experience. While the majority return from the summit unscathed, both itineraries entail risk.

The Normal Route — chosen by about three quarters of the climbers aiming for the summit — goes across the Grand Couloir, a steep, narrow gully that acts as a sort of bowling alley for falling rocks. Near the top, the path leads onto a narrow ridge of snow and ice, about 100 yards long and just a couple of feet wide, that’s flanked by steep drops. If you stumble there, you can fall to your death.

_________

Lesson of the Day: ‘5 Takeaways From a Super Tuesday That Changed the Democratic Race’

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Lesson of the Day: ‘5 Takeaways From a Super Tuesday That Changed the Democratic Race’

Find all our Lessons of the Day here.

Featured Article: “5 Takeaways From a Super Tuesday That Changed the Democratic Race”

March 3 was Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the Democratic presidential campaign. The results increasingly suggested a two-person race between candidates representing competing wings of the party.

In this lesson, you will analyze the results from Super Tuesday by first looking at a map of the results, then reading an article that analyzes those results. Then, we invite you to make and share your predictions about the future of the race and post those predictions here, along with the source(s) of your evidence for them.

Have you been following the Democratic primary race? Did you have a favorite candidate going into this week?

Look at the map at the top of the featured article and answer these three questions:

  • What do you notice? If you make a claim, tell what you noticed that supports your claim.

  • What do you wonder? What are you curious about that comes from what you notice in the map?

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. Who are the two front-runners that emerged in the Democratic presidential race after Super Tuesday? Do you have a preference for which you hope to become the eventual party nominee? Is your preference the same as your prediction for who you expect to become the Democratic candidate who will take on President Trump in the general election?

2. Where did Joseph Biden perform well on Super Tuesday? What reasons does the article provide for why he did so well in those states?

3. Where did Bernie Sanders perform well? What reasons does the article provide for his electoral strength in those states?

4. The article includes five takeaways from Super Tuesday:

  • Black voters power a resurgent Biden.

  • Sanders retains strong support. And the race could soon be a slog.

  • Momentum, not political organization or money, is what mattered.

  • Warren and Bloomberg fade.

  • The results exposed the party’s generational divide.

Choose one of the five and explain, in your own words, what the takeaway means and why it is important.

5. What is your reaction to Super Tuesday’s results? Why?

Based on what you now know about what happened on Super Tuesday, what predictions can you make for what will happen in the race for the nomination in the days and weeks ahead? Why?

Make at least one prediction, but ground it in evidence from the map, the article, the three graphs featured in the article, or any other information you can find in The Times or elsewhere.

We invite you to post those predictions here, as comments on this lesson, but please remember to also cite the source(s) for those predictions.

Are You a Good Person?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Are You a Good Person?

Find all our Student Opinion questions here.

Has anyone ever said that you were a good person? Is being good something you strive to be or aspire toward?

In “How to Be Good,” Simran Sethi sought out a therapist, a scholar, a monk, a C.E.O. and others to learn about bringing our best to everything we do, every day. She begins by exploring the meaning of goodness:

Rachana Kamtekar, a professor of philosophy at Cornell University, explained goodness by way of ancient Greek philosophy: “For Plato, goodness is the same as happiness. We desire appetitively because of our bodies. We desire emotionally because of our sense of self in contact with other human beings. And we also have rational desires to understand how to do what’s best. Our goodness requires all of these capacities to be developed and then expressed.”

This can be a lifelong process — something that is never perfectly realized but should always be struggled for. “Goodness is impermanent and organic, meaning it can progress as well as regress,” said Chan Phap Dung, a senior monk at the Plum Village meditation center founded by the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. And that is why, he said, we have to be steadfast in caring for ourselves and the world at large. “In politics and culture, in the media and corporations, we have cultivated conditions that have produced a lot of violence, discrimination and despair for which there is a collective level of responsibility.”

Because many of us have a complicated relationship with what it means to be good, it can help to reframe the subject and widen it. “Some people flinch when they ponder whether or not they or others are ‘good’ because the words ‘good’ and ‘goodness’ have long been associated with obedience,” the author and former “Dear Sugars” podcast host Cheryl Strayed shared in response to a query from The Times.

“I reject that definition,” she said. “Goodness is expressed through lovingkindness, generosity of spirit and deed, and the thoughtful consideration of others. It can be as simple as offering to let someone ahead of you in line and as complicated as making yearslong sacrifices of your freedom because someone you love needs your help. Over the course of a lifetime, most of us do both.”

Ms. Sethi shared the insights of a variety of people who think a lot about what it means to be good. Here are four of their suggestions:

Be kind.

Harriet Lerner, psychologist and author

“Kindness is at the center of what it means to be good. It may require very little from us, or the opposite. It may require words and action, or restraint and silence. Everything that can be said can be said with kindness. Every tough position we have to take can be taken with kindness. No exceptions. Being a good person requires that we work toward that unrealized world where the dignity and integrity of all human beings, all life, are honored and respected.”

Pay attention.

Brother Chan Phap Dung, senior monk, Plum Village

“In the Buddhist tradition, the training starts with learning how to stop and come back to the present moment and enjoy our breathing. We stop to recognize what is happening within us and around us: our feelings, our thinking, whether our body is relaxed or in tension, who is there in front of us or what are we doing. With repetition, we begin to see and understand ourselves better — and choose to do one thing rather than another.”

Ask hard questions.

The Rev. William J. Barber II, civil rights activist

“As a public theologian, I tend to look at what has lifted us when we found ourselves at our lowest — what has called us to a better place. How are we, as a nation and as a people, using life itself to create good for the poor and broken and captive and for those who are made to feel unaccepted? We must constantly raise that question as we live life — seeking to answer it not only individually, but together. We need to embrace those deepest moral values that call us to, first and foremost, seek love, truth, justice and concern for others.”

Hold yourself accountable.

Rachana Kamtekar, professor of philosophy, Cornell University

“You have to know what your different motivations are, know how strong they are and if you can get some of them to pull against the others. I was a smoker in my 20s and 30s. Like many smokers, I resolved to quit on multiple occasions. When I was 40, I told my son and his buddies that I had been a smoker and had quit. I knew if I ever smoked again, I was going to have to tell them. My aversion to those kids thinking of me as a smoker swamped any desire I had to smoke. When I added to my rational resolution this prospect of something like shame — that I was going to have to face these kids and say, “I am a smoker” — it changed.”

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Do you feel you are a good person? Why or why not? Are there ways you wish you were better?

  • Cheryl Strayed said that goodness “can be as simple as offering to let someone ahead of you in line and as complicated as making yearslong sacrifices of your freedom because someone you love needs your help.” Do you agree? What is your definition of goodness?

  • Which insights and suggestions from the article resonated with you most? Explain why.

  • Where do your ideas about goodness, and morals more generally, come from? Have they been shaped by friends and family, culture or religious beliefs?

  • Has anyone ever said that you were a good person? If yes, what do you think they meant? How did that make you feel?

  • Nick Hornby said, “I think all one can ever really do is to try and keep goodness close to you as an ambition — make sure that it’s one of the ways in which you think.” Is goodness an important goal for you? Do you strive to be good?

  • What suggestions would you give to others who seek to be good?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

1...1,5051,5061,507...1,708Page 1,506 of 1,708

Recent Posts